Overlapped Lives
by ruby1110
Summary: What was Danny's ghost half doing while Danny was still all human? What was Danny himself doing? How did they react after the accident? This story tells of the origins of Phantom and other stuff the show never told us.
1. Chapter 1

_Me: Just as a formality, I don't own the computer I'm typing on or the chair I'm sitting in, much less Danny Phantom. First fan fiction, so please read & review!_

Overlapped Lives

Chapter 1

Phantom

I sat on the edge of the cliff, the one right outside of my town. When I finally let myself relax, I felt the large lump on the side of my head that Rick, my stepfather, gave me.

My life has always been crazy. My father died when I was five. A few months later, Mom was married to Rick. I don't know why. I guess she wanted a guy in her life, and she doesn't know what waiting means. Anyway, at first, he was nice enough, in a rough sort of way. Then things took a turn for the worse. He lost his job and started drinking, then loosing his temper on us. I knew what people think when people see me, Danny, a blond 16-year-old boy with my bright green eyes, made to seem even brighter by the bruises: 'Yeah, that's what that dumb punk deserves. Getting into fights, I'll reckon.' Nope.

I watched the sun go down behind my California town. It's so peaceful here, not like how it was at home…

All of a sudden, I noticed motorcycles driving up my cliff. I turned. It was some of Rick's buddies, coming to rough me up again. One of them came up to me, grabbed my shirt. I kicked him hard. He spat out, cussing. I smelled the distinct scent of booze on their breath. Rick was there. He walked up to me, pushed me, and I kept on falling back into the air. I hit something, and then everything went black…

* * *

I watched the ambulance take my body away. It's really strange, watching what was once you get carried away to the morgue.

After that, I went to the police station. I heard one of the cops say that there was going to be an investigation for my death. From what people said, it sounded like they thought I had commited suicide. They still were going to question Mom, though.

_She'll tell them. She'll finally tell somebody about the Rick nobody else sees: the Rick that drinks, pulls Mom's hair whenever I didn't get home on time, hit me...then killed me._

Or, at least, that's what I thought.

I floated through the door of the questioning room just to hear Mom say 'No. Rick never left the house last night. We were watching a late-night movie. Danny was...we thought he was out playing football with his friends.'

* * *

I flew through the door of Mom and Rick's room. _Mom betrayed me for..for ... **him. **She loves the man who beats her more than me._

I felt an uncontrollable rage run through me. _This must be how Rick feels when he beat me._

_They're going to live a life together. Mom, you've made your choice, but that doesn't mean you can't start it screwed._

And I set about destroying the house. I won't bore you with all of the things I did. But I'll say this: mirrors were smashed. Rick's beer and other foul-smelling liquids and crumbling items were smeared into the carpet, splashed haphazardly on the walls, and drizzled onto the electronics. Furniture...Phones... Credit cards...everything got the same type of treatment.Even the unpaidbills that I put through the blender and slopped all overthe remains of the kitchen table.

Except for my stuff. Those I kept intact, as a strong indicator as to the culprit.The only changesI made to my stuffwas my computer.I changed the password to p.247 of _Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers._The whole page. In Binary (that's all of those 1s and 0s). And you can't use the computer unless you know the password, even if you reset the settings. And to change the password, you have to know the old one. Beat that, you illiterate child/wife beater!

I had no friends to do this for me. Nobody would do this kind of thing for revenge. Except me.

I was just about to rig it so as soon as they come in the back door they'd get a bucket of beer on them from above when I heard a small voice say "Danny?"

I turned from where I was floating. There was Mom with Rick right behind her.

"Danny...why are you doing this? Don't you love us?"

God. I never thought my Mom could be such an **idiot**. "No," I shouted, throwing the bucket at them. But mainly at Rick.

Mom looked really hurt. I took a deep breath and tried to calmly say "You had a choice, Mom. Him or me. You chose him. I can't forgive that. So you can just GO TO HELL WITH HIM!" My voice had raised to a scream by then. I turned and flew through the roof. And I never looked back.

* * *

I stood over my casket and watched Mom cry. Rick didn't, of course, but he was making a good show of comforting Mom. I looked around, surprised not to see more people there. It was only Mom, Dad, and the minister. I hovered, listening to the man say some stuff about how I would be welcomed by the angels in Heaven. I wanted to say 'Hey man, I'm dead and I don't see any Heaven or Hell from here.', but I knew he wouldn't hear me. Or, if he could, he would deny it.

Suddenly, I saw a light in the corner of my vision. I turned and, there in front of me, was that bright tunnel all of those people brought back talked about. I stepped toward it, then hesitated. I turned and kicked my ghostly foot at Rick's butt. He only shivered from the blast of cold air hitting him, but it made me feel better. I flew through the tunnel to find out what lay beyond.

* * *

…And, about five months later, I was waiting in a line. You would have thought that you didn't have to wait to find out whether or not you're going to spend an eternity in Hell; but there I was. I saw a load of people there, all ages, sizes, and stories. There were an amazing amount of people who didn't look like they should've died: children, teenagers like myself, and some people who looked like they hadn't even hit thirty. Kind of depressing, now that I think about it.

Finally, after who knows how long, I was at the head of the line.

The guy at the Book of Names (I also heard people call it the Who-Dunnit-List) was nothing like what I expected: he was short, fat, and bald, and had a dirty, scraggly beard, like some sort of bum. But, by then, I was used to things not being what I expected.

I told him my name, and he took his darn time turning all of those pages and looking at the tiny print I could see from looking at it upside down. His eyebrows turned up. Bad sign. He ran down the list again, this time using his finger to keep track of his place. He looked at me straight in the eye and said it. "I'm sorry kid, but you don't seem to be on the list to die. Go back to your body."

I tried to explain to him that I was dead, I'd been dead for five months, and that I couldn't go back to my body because it probably had maggots eating it by then from being six feet under so long. He was pretty insistent on that I was alive. He even showed me the list of people who died the day I did and pointed to where I should have been. I wasn't there. We had this argument all day and night until some other angel grabbed me by the ghostly remains of my shirt and bodily lobbed me down from heaven back onto earth.

Since it was pretty obvious I wouldn't be very welcome if I went up there again (and I didn't know where hell was), I flew toward the large city that I saw on the horizon. I went a lot faster than I would have gone if I was alive: I seemed to be going more than a mile a minute. I stopped in front of the sign that said **WELCOME TO AMITY PARK **and everything about how nice it would be to have me here. Looked like as good a place to haunt as any.

I floated down the streets, looking at all of the houses like a would-be homeowner would, looking for a place. I didn't see a lot of ghosts floating around, which bothered me some. 'Why wouldn't a ghost want to haunt here?' I thought, 'Seems like an ordinary town.'

But I soon forgot about that when I floated past the elementary school. In the corner of the playground, where the teachers couldn't see, this big blond boy (big for a five-year-old, that is) was picking on a smaller black-haired kid.

Now that just ticked me off. I flew through the chain-linked fence and was about to rough that little bullying punk up when I saw the look in the smaller kid's eyes: he looked like he wanted to roll over and die. Before I died, that probably would have stung me into hitting other kid even harder than i was going to, but now it made me stop. The kid didn't need someone to beat up everyone who picked on him; he looked like he needed a friend more than anything. And that was exactly what I was going to give to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Danny

Dash called me some mean names, but I just pretended I didn't hear him, and he went away. I wish he'd just go away. I wish everyone would go away and leave me alone. Only Dash seems to know I'm alive, but if hitting you and calling you names is what people do when they know you're alive, I don't want to alive.

I put my face on my bent knees and cried. I don't know why I cried. But I didn't know what else to do.

Someone walked up to me and sat beside me on the grass. "Hey, what's wrong?" the person asked, in a lower voice than somebody in my class, but it sounds different from the teachers.

I paused, wondering whether or not I should trust him. I felt I could. "Dash called me mean names and everybody hates me and I don't have any friends." I mumbled with my head turned down.

"I'm somebody, and I don't hate you." He said.

_He doesn't? Is that possible? Or is he lying?_ I knew you could tell if someone's lying by looking at their face. I looked up so I could see him instead of my knees. He was bigger than Dash and almost as big as Mr. Pierce, the principal. Even though we're both sitting down, he towers over me. But he didn't seem to care that he was bigger and older. He just sits and smiles at me.

I finally worked up the courage to mumble "My name's Danny. What's yours?"

His smile got even bigger. "My name's Mr. Nobody. Let's be friends!"

'Friends'. That sounded like a good word, like 'cookie' or 'story time'. "Okay."

Then the bell rang to go back in. I got up and walked back to my teacher, who was lining up all of the other kids in my class. Mr. Nobody walked with me and stood next to me in line. The teacher walked right by him, not even looking at him.

When we went into class, Mr. Nobody sat in a corner of the room, watching the class. He probably was there before and I didn't notice him. He was so quiet I had to turn my head and look to make sure he was still there.

During playtime he came over to me on the soft rug and played jacks with me using the set that was in the toy bin. The quiet girl in my class, Sam, walked over and sat next to Mr. Nobody.

"Can I play?" she said in a nice voice. Sam doesn't talk much. She likes being by herself a lot. Why does she want to play with me?

"Sure!" I say. Mr. Nobody just smiles one of his large smiles.

We all take turns playing until it's time to go home. Mommy picks me up and drives us home to our house. Mr. Nobody comes along too. He hung around all night until it was time for me to go to bed. It was good to have a friend.

Phantom

_So far so good._ This kid, Danny…he had a life something like I never had. His mom's nice enough, but I still hadn't met his dad yet. I heard his mom mention him at dinner.

Everybody probably thinks he just has a new imaginary friend. But how can he see me? When he turned his head up at me, I just **knew** he could see me. I probably learned how to pick up that kind of thing from living with Rick. Nobody else could, not even…was it Sam? She was sweet enough. At least I wouldn't be the only friend this kid had.

Funny. Now that I'm dead, when thing are supposed to end, things are finally how they should be…


	3. Chapter 3

_Me: Hi everybody! Thanks for all of your great reviews. Sorry this took so long, but all of my teachers suddenly decided to pile their advance-placement students up with homework and 'practices for midterms'. I'll do my best to keep this going as fast as possible! Happy Holidays to all!_

Chapter 3

Phantom

I finally met Danny's dad when he came back from a ghost-hunter's convention (arethere really enough to have a convention?) in Chicago. I found out what Danny's parents did for a living the hard way: I wandered into their lab/basement. I barely got out alive…or whatever.

If his dad is anything to go by, Danny's going to grow up to be **huge**. The large briefcase he held in his hand as he came through the door looked like tiny toy in his large fist.

I did my best to stay away from them, for obvious reasons. What if they were like Danny and could see me? Could it be genetics? I later found out I didn't have to worry – they said the reason behind the lights going off in a thunderstorm was 'ghostly activity'.

One day, several weeks later, Danny and I were playing checkers when Danny's dad came up. I dropped the checker I was holding, hoping he didn't see it. He doesn't know too much about ghostly activity, but I wasn't willing to be at the business end of one of those machines in the basement.

"Can I talk to you alone, Danny?"

Shoot. Guess he saw it (or, more likely, Danny's mom saw something).

I got up from where I was sitting and floated up the stairs, wondering what they wanted to talk to Danny about. I turned into his room and sat on Danny's bed, waiting…

After what seemed like an eternity, Danny finally came up. He left the door open slightly and walked in. I got up. "Hey! What did your dad want to talk about?" I ask.

Danny kept to the other side of the room, his head turned down so his hair hides his eyes, and doesn't say anything.

I floated over. "What's wrong?" I questioned, concerned, placing my ghostly hand on his shoulder. Danny quickly jerked out of my light grip and pressed his back hard to the wall. Whatever Danny's dad had said, I doubt there was any mention of Casper the Friendly Ghost.

"Danny, what did your dad tell you?"

"Go away!"

"I'm not bad. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to be friends"

"Liar!" he yelled, throwing his head up. In that second, I saw his eyes. And what I saw in them was fear.

Okay, I got the picture. I flew out the window and didn't look back.

Danny

Mr. Nobody flew through the window and I wiped away a tear. I really thought he was my friend. But Daddy couldn't be wrong, could he? All of those things he said…he can't be wrong.

Daddy walked into my room with Mommy looking really angry right behind him.

"Tell him Jack." Mommy says.

"Danny… I told a lie. I meant the best, but it was a lie. Can you forgive me?"

So Mr. Nobody really was my friend after all. And he's never coming back. I felt hot tears in my eyes as I started to cry.

Phantom

_Okay, what next?_, I thought as I floated down the streets of Amity Park.

I saw a bunch of punks beat up an old man, but I didn't even try to help him.

_It isn't my problem_, I thought, _why should I help?_

At least, that was what I thought before one of them fired a gun. Then they ran, leaving the man behind.

…I could have stopped them. I should have stopped them. The only reason I didn't was because I was so wrapped up in my stupid problems to care. And now the guy's dead.

I wandered the streets late that night, horrified about what I had done. Or what I didn't do. Does it matter anymore? By all rights, I belong in jail, just like those punks.

That's when I went by the park. And there they were, smoking cigarettes.

Murderers.

Standing around.

Going to get off trouble free.

Sound familiar?

The same anger, now familiar, started bubbling up from its place inside of me. I launched myself at them. It must have been an odd sight to anybody who was watching: A bunch of guys getting battered about by absolutely nothing, but the guys were being thrown around all the same.

I dropped them off in front of the police station with a small improvised note telling where to find the body.

After several hours, I finally got the guts to move on. I took a slight detour towards Danny's house, for old time's sake.

What I found in Danny's room was definitely not what I expected.

Danny was asleep (it was three in the morning). But, this was new - he was crying in his sleep.

"No…please…I'm sorry…don't go…"

He's only five. He shouldn't be crying like this. I lightly perched on the corner of the bed and tried to touch him, to wake him up and tell him goodbye.

…And my hand got stuck in his shoulder. I pulled my arm, but it just wouldn't get out of him. Even worse, I got sucked in.

When I could finally make sense of what happened (getting sucked into a person's body can be very confusing), I saw who Danny was talking to in his dream: me.

When a person's sleeping, the person's brain processes what the person learned that day and turns it into permanent information. So I got a nice little view of what Danny's dad had told him. Well, it's no wonder why Danny was frightened. Who tells their kid that kind of stuff anyway? And most of it wasn't even true to begin with!

I saw this all while watching Danny begging the dreamlike ghost-version of myself to come back as he slowly walked away.

What could I have done? I floated over and picked him up. I was half surprised when I could, but why not? In here, it's just his soul too.

I sat down on what looked like a floor (what the heck was that doing there anyway?) and held him until his crying died down enough for him to talk.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. It's not your fault. And don't worry, I'll always be around. You may not see me, but I'll be there. Remember that." I let him go, smiled and floated out of his body.

Danny

I got out of Mommy's car in front of my school. As I was walking up, I tried to remember the dream I had last night. All I can remember is that I cried, but eventually something made me feel better. I think it was important, that I was supposed to remember something…

I felt somebody squeeze my shoulder. I turned to look, but I couldn't see anybody.

Then I see my friends Sam and Tucker playing around near the monkey bars. I run to join them. I'll remember when I really need to.


End file.
